Dictation devices have been in common use in many fields in which it is inconvenient or undesirable to make handwritten or typewritten notes. One of the fields in which dictation devices have long been prevalent is the medical profession, and particularly so among radiologists, who often dictate their findings and diagnoses while referring to a photographic print of radiological data such as X-rays. It is common in these fields for a user of a dictation device to make voice recordings and provide these recordings to transcriptionists, who transcribe the recordings in order to generate written transcripts of the recording for the dictator's review or for record keeping purposes.
More recently, dictation technology has developed significantly and includes such tools as speech recognition software to eliminate some of the need for transcriptionists to transcribe recordings. However, a recognized and pervasive problem in the art is that speech recognition requires high quality audio input. Low quality audio input decreases the effectiveness of speech recognition algorithms, and frequently prevents them from functioning at all. It is therefore desirable to provide a microphone with superior audio quality for connecting to a computer for implementing speech recognition.
In some applications of dictation devices and speech recognition tools, a dictator uses a dictation device and speech recognition to complete blank text fields in a form. For example, many medical practices have specific forms wherein there is a printed query or prompt, followed by a blank text field into which a practitioner provides the requested text information regarding a particular patient. One way in which different fields are selected and activated to receive text from a voice recognition interface is by use of a pointing device, such as a mouse. However, this manner of selecting various fields for text input is unduly awkward as typically a user would prefer to use the same hand to manipulate the microphone as the mouse. Thus, it is desirable to provide an ergonomically convenient way to navigate through forms containing fields in which text is entered through a dictation device and a speech recognition interface.
Technological advances have led to newer and faster types of interfaces between peripheral devices and computers. Dictation microphones for connecting to computers running speech recognition software have been known in the art. However, these microphones connect to computers through one or more serial ports, and often require other connections as well, including speaker in, audio in, speaker out, audio out, power, RS232, and game port connections. These multiple connections make connecting the microphone to a computer a time consuming and complex process. Furthermore, many dictation microphones require connection to a sound card, which many laptop and some desktop computers lack. Therefore, a substantial number of computers are unable to connect to these sorts of dictation microphones. However, the development of the USB and USB2 standards (“Universal Serial Bus” and “USB2” are both hereafter simply referred to as “USB”) have brought significant increases in speed and aided in uniform compatibility between peripheral devices and computers. It is desirable to provide a dictation microphone that can be connected simply and easily to a computer through a USB connection, through which two way communication between the microphone and the computer is established, and from which the microphone can draw substantially all of its power requirements.
In some applications a barcode identifier is used to identify the subject about which the user of a dictation device is dictating. For example, in the field of radiology, it is common for a radiologist to use a scanner to scan a barcode on a radiograph, such as an X-ray, which identifies the patient and/or the X-ray. The radiologist then records his findings and diagnoses into the dictation device with the assurance that this recording will be associated with the correct patient and/or X-ray. It is therefore desirable to provide a dictation device that may include a barcode or other such scanning ability.
A difficulty arises, however, because scanning devices generally, and in particular laser scanning devices, generate electromagnetic fields that can interfere with microphone circuitry and degrade audio signals, thus making speech recognition of those signals less accurate or impossible. Therefore, there is a need for circuitry that can overcome the effects of interference between the scanning and microphone elements in a dictation device having a scanner. It is desirable to have an integrated scanner/dictation device that can interface with a computer through a USB connection, and which can draw all of its power requirements from the USB port. However, the USB standard limits the amount of current that can be drawn to 500 mA, which may be insufficient to drive both the scanner and the dictation device.